Akash Siva Temple of Coimbatore

Atharva Veda Siddha-Naturopathy

If Atharva Veda believes that the body is in harmony with the cosmos, Naturopathy extends the argument just a little but further saying all cures are available in nature itself. If the body is suffering from some disease, there can be no better doctor than nature.

There are two ways of looking at this. One way is to understand this as least possible intervention that is, allow nature itself to recoup. To do this the intake of food is highly restricted. Therefore liquid diet or fasting is a very potent tool for cure in this branch of medicine. This way they believe the toxics in the body are cleansed and once again health is restored.

Another way of looking at Naturopathy is to intervene with natural forces. Beginning with diet itself, some diseases may warrant abstinence from certain types of foods and an increase in certain other types. Food is however not the only means of effecting cure.

Sunlight is a major source of energy. If it gives life, so can the rays of the sun cure. A branch of medicine called Chromotherapy believes that by exposing water and oils to sunlight over a forty-eight hour period, one is able to capture a lot of energy within the exposed material. This material is then used for cure.

It is said, for example, that if some oil is kept in a blue coloured bottle for about three months, it acquires medicinal properties and can be used as ointment over injuries, as a nourishing oil and even for localised application for arthritis or rheumatism and other joint pains.

Oil takes longer to gain energy than water. If water is exposed for forty-eight hours it gains potency. Water in a green coloured bottle becomes a very good general tonic while water in a red bottle helped in relieving low blood pressure.

Another `medicine' in naturopathy is water. When water is used to treat it is called hydrotherapy. Water baths, drinking of a certain amount of water are all some of the ways of effecting cures. Similarly mud is used to cure. Mud baths are a common way of healing even stomach disorders. Sometimes magnets are also used to effect cures by modifying the magnetic field within and around the body. This type of treatment is called magneto-therapy. Often, doctors believe that correct breathing can cure. They say that what we can not do is remain without breathing and yet we have not mastered the art of breathing. Regular and controlled breathing can clear the system of a lot of toxics and so restore health.